Untitled
by Guyver Prime
Summary: A powerful force has emerged from the heart of the sun. But what are its intentions for a troubled Man Of Steel?
1. Beginning

This is starting off as a solo piece but when I get time it will be the epilogue of my story.

The rating is pg13 because of the later stuff. It takes place after season 4 but in my world a baby didn't appear out of nowhere.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the franchise (hence the empty pockets).  
  
Read, enjoy and reviews, criticisms and thoughts are all welcome.

* * *

There was only her.  
  
As he lay in bed with her snuggled up next to him, with one arm holding her as close as possible, a million things to do say and get done where on his mind. But right now none of them mattered.  
  
There was only her.  
  
Rain ran down the windows, blurring the view of the street outside. But he could see. He could look up through the roof, up past the grey storm clouds and into the darkness of space. But all he could see was how beautiful she is.  
  
There was only her.  
  
The cars outside and the rainfall created a hum of noise. But he could hear. He could hear music from a radio a mile away, the flapping of a butterfly's wing and a man proposing to his girlfriend in a diner just outside Metropolis. She said yes. But all he could hear was the steady beating of her heart.  
  
There was only her.  
  
He had saved her life countless times. If there was a bomb, he had flown it away or eaten it. If she had fallen or had been pushed, he was there. He caught her. Any threat to her had been dealt with. And in return she had saved him. Kryptonite bullets had been cut out, or warned about thanks to her big mouth. Even when his head was about to be cut off so a maniac could have his body, she had been there to save him. But she had saved him from something he had been fighting his entire life. Something even he couldn't beat. Loneliness. Together the two of them had something. They were soul mates. Destined to be together throughout time. Nothing could break them apart.  
  
Because being with her, was stronger than him alone.  
  
And he was Superman.  
  
"You're doing it again." she said as she slowly opened her eyes.  
  
"Are you saying I'm predictable?"  
  
"Well you do have a habit of watching me sleep."  
  
"Nothing wrong with that. I'm in love with my wife, that's all."  
  
She snuggled up close to him, his arms closing round her, the warmth of her body comforted him in a way he couldn't explain. It was moments like this when he felt stabs of guilt. Although he wasn't needed at the moment, even though he was always needed in over a hundred places at once, he always felt the world could wait. I'm with Lois, he thought, there is nothing more important. But there was. The world needs Superman. But he couldn't do it without her.  
  
The sun may power the Super, but she powered the man.  
  
"So which cake do you want, the flying through the sky or the 'S' shield?"  
  
"Lo-is, I told you, no cakes, balloons or anything. I don't know who's more stubborn, you, or all the people of Metropolis."  
  
"Well it's a big event, you're 5 years old."  
  
"Happy birthday dear Superman..." Clark sang. Lois tried to suppress a giggle but Clark felt her body shaking. Turning her to face him, he rolled on top of her and started to tickle her at super speed. Tears streamed down Lois' cheeks as she squirmed and squeaked, trying to escape. Stopping suddenly, Clark looked deep into her eyes. He brushed his hand over her cheek, wiping away the tears, and running his fingers through her hair.  
  
"No cake then?" Lois said, trying to get her breath back.  
  
Clark shook his head.  
  
"But the city still wants to throw the party. Superman has been here for 5 years, that's a big thing. The Prometheus is being refitted so the crew are coming down here, all of whom you saved, remember?"  
  
"I ate the bomb."  
  
"You burped."  
  
"I said 'excuse me'."  
  
"You've always had good manners." She placed a hand on the back of his head, stroking his short black hair, as he leaned in and kissed her. They kissed for minutes that seemed like hours, drinking each other in, the whole world meaningless to them.  
  
"You seem breathless, still a little tickle tired?"  
  
"Well you take my breath away. But I have a little left."  
  
"I'll see to that..."  
  
About 2 hours later, Clark got dressed into jeans and a shirt and silently crept downstairs, being careful not to wake a now very exhausted Lois. Picking up the phone, he smiled. The thought that crossed his mind every time he did this would never go would it. Dialling the number he waited for a few seconds before the he heard a comforting female voice.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi mum."  
  
"Hi sweetheart, just a sec," he heard a hand being placed over the receiver and his mum's voice calling out 'Jonathan, its Clark', "So how's Lois?"  
  
"She's good, Supermans 'birthday' is getting her excited."  
  
Martha Kent laughed, "You should have expected that honey, it is a big deal."  
  
"That's what I hear."  
  
The phone clicked as it was picked up by another voice from the farm in Kansas.  
  
"Hi son, what's this big deal?"  
  
"Hi dad, it's this birthday."  
  
"Well it holds a lot of meanings in a lot of peoples hearts, son. It isn't just the day you saved the space station. You came into the world and look at you now. You're a symbol of hope for everyone, a sign that we're not alone."  
  
"I guess. But Lois is wrapped up in this as well, that part I don't understand."  
  
"Well she fell in love."  
  
"Yeah with Superman."  
  
"No Clark, with you," Martha said, reassuring her son, "She fell in love with the man, not the powers, and that man was you. She didn't love Clark at first but then she saw who you are. With or without powers, you are a Superman."  
  
"You always know what to say." Clark said, feeling better.  
  
"I'm your mother. That's my job."  
  
"So are you sure you don't want me to fly you guys out?"  
  
"We're sure. We want to relax and we can fly first class this time with the money you've saved us."  
  
Clark laughed, "Well you do save a lot if your son is Superman. I'll be over tonight to get your stuff and then all you bring is hand luggage, ok?"  
  
"Sounds good to me." Martha agreed.  
  
"How are things in Metropolis?" asked Jonathan.  
  
"Quiet," Clark yawned, "Supermans 'birthday' is the only thing on peoples minds."  
  
"Clark honey," Martha said with concern, "Did you just yawn?"  
  
"Yeah but it's ok."  
  
"Clark what's wrong?" Jonathan asked, matching his wifes concern.  
  
"It's nothing, honestly."  
  
"Clark Kent, you can't lie to me, now what is wrong?"  
  
Clark sighed. So much for not getting them worried. "I don't know mum. Lately it's almost like I'm losing it."  
  
"What do you mean, losing it?" Jonathan asked, increasingly worried.  
  
"It's like I'm running on empty. The fire at the docks yesterday, I flew down, rescued the trapped workers, put the fire out and flew off. But when I got back to the planet, it was like I had nothing left."  
  
"But you still had your powers?"  
  
"Yeah. But I was so drained for the rest of the day. I tried lighting a candle at the dinner table last not with my heat vision and it took a minute to do it."  
  
"Could it be kryptonite?"  
  
"No, I don't think so, it doesn't feel that way, red or green. Green would be an immediate loss, red would send them out of control but this is a more gradual thing."  
  
"How long has it been going on?"  
  
"About 2 weeks."  
  
"Martha thought for a second and then realised, "That's when the solar flares began, and they say that the suns radiation has been a bit different since then. It might be that."  
  
"No. I've been seeing Dr Klein about it and that's what he thought so he ran some tests but my body isn't affected by the change. I also flew up there to get some readings and take a look, just in case."  
  
"In case of what? You think this might be intentional?"  
  
"I can't rule that out dad. It's possible someone is doing this to drain my powers."  
  
"Then you had better find this person now before your powers go completely."  
  
Clark heard a faint noise above him. Using his x-ray vision, he looked up to see Lois stretching as she walked to the bathroom. Just before she closed the door, she looked down at the floor, looking right at the area Clark's vision was penetrating. She smiled, gave a little wave and blew a kiss.  
  
'He's watching me' she thought.  
  
'She knows I'm watching her' he thought. 'I am predictable' he smiled.  
  
"I have to go, I'm going to get breakfast for Lois."  
  
"Anything thing special?" asked Martha.  
  
"Just some croissants." Clark replied.  
  
"From Paris" Jonathan chuckled.  
  
"They're the best. And so are you guys. I love you."  
  
"We love you too." Martha told her son, "See you soon. Bye Clark."  
  
"Bye mum. Bye dad."  
  
"Bye dad."  
  
Clark thought to himself for a minute before putting the phone down. Again the joke was in his mind. E.T had just phoned home.  
  
Looking up again he could see Lois taking off her dressing gown, dropping it to the floor around her ankles. As she stepped into the shower, he fought the urge to fly up there and join her. But she would be hungry and he felt like eating. So it would be Paris now and shower with Lois later. Grabbing a note pad and a pen, he wrote at super speed where he was going but not what for, she would figure it out anyway. He also put the time he wrote the note. His speed had been affected as well and he was struggling to reach the speed of sound.  
  
Turning his upper body to the side, he swung it back round and he began spinning like a tornado, his light jeans and shirt being replaced by a blur of red, blue and yellow. Coming to a sudden stop, Clark had vanished. In his place stood a man the world recognised as a symbol for Truth, Justice and the American way. A hero, an icon, he was the last son of Krypton, the man of steel.  
  
Superman.  
  
Stepping forward towards the window, he opened it and carefully made sure that no one was watching. Just as he was about to take off, the world began spinning. He put his back against the wall and slowly slid down it, unable to stand. He tried to maintain focus as his vision blurred, the colours of his apartment mixing. Gathering all his energy, he rose to his feet. Stepping away from the wall he could barely stand. Concentrating, he tried to will everything right but his heart was pounding in his chest.  
  
Then as suddenly as it started, it stopped. His strength returned. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, his vision slowly cleared.  
  
'What the hell was that?' he thought to himself. 'Right, first Paris to get breakfast and to try to get rid of this grogginess, then I'm going to Dr Klein."  
  
Checking once more that there was no one watching he took off, shutting the window behind him.  
  
...  
  
To be continued... 


	2. Powers in Paris

Wow, now that is the mother of all delays. I don't wanna say a Super delay but, well, too late. I will be attempting to update this story more often.

But! I would hereby like to dedicate this story to Hollie Van Dyke. A very, very dear friend of mine. Hope you like it honey bunny.

* * *

How long had it been? Days, months, years even? All there was in the beginning was darkness. The beginning was death. Then waking to find the light, brighter than anything, so blinding that even with closed eyes, it was a brilliant white. And the heat had been unbearable, at first. Certain to end anything living, it had slowly become nothing. The light and heat, once believed to be the killers, now barely registered. They meant nothing. But freedom… that was everything. 

The swirls, the pulling, all attempts to leave the heart of the sun had proved futile; it's gravitational pull too much. But that was before. Before now, with each passing day he got stronger and stronger. He knew he would get free.

Now, being able to look out into the darkness of space and at the planets dotted around the solar system, he felt the desire to return to earth. To soar through the blue skies; high above the clouds where he could be free. But he didn't think it could happen, his resolve had waned…until he saw him.

He could see him flying towards him and then, just hovering there, looking for something. Looking for him maybe? No. He was looking at the flares. Yes, he was aware of the flares. They were his doing. All his attempts to break lose. They had only become this violent recently as he had gained in power so drastically. Then, as soon as he was there, he was gone. Superman was gone.

Superman…out lived…Superman…usefulness…Superman…

Then everything changed. His mind suddenly became primal and savage. Thoughts that where not his own started to take precedence. Each one fixated on one single goal. He no longer felt the desire for freedom; he felt a lust for power. 'Might is right' echoed through his mind. A burning rage fuelled by the desire to destroy, destroy the obsolete, destroy his fathers' enemy, destroy his enemy.

Destroy Superman.

…

The spray coming up from the water was refreshing. He only went low long enough to get lightly showered but it served its purpose in waking him up a little.

After the way he had felt before leaving the apartment, Clark decided it was best to fly lower than usual and to keep his speed down to a reasonable level. He felt fairly certain that he wouldn't have another episode, but he had no intention of losing his powers and becoming a human stone, skipping across the Atlantic at over 500 miles an hour. Considering what had happened and that his powers had been unreliable as of late, flying to France for croissants wasn't something that should even be on his to do list. But if it was to be a case of priorities, making Lois happy by getting her croissants came first. She would always be first.

He gained altitude as he approached land and before long he was flying towards the Eiffel tower, but most importantly, slightly to the left, the best croissants in the world. Making a swift but gentle landing in an alleyway about a street away, the strong blues, red and yellow colours were replaced by a grey suit, white shirt, a vibrant tie and a pair of glasses. The bold body language of Superman had dissolved into the laid back demeanour of Clark Kent. It was an acting masterpiece.

Yet it would fall apart if not for the glasses. Sometimes even he wasn't sure how no one else had figured it out. It was far from flawless.

There had been close calls, the incident with Diana Stride for instance. Luckily his mum had been experimenting with holographic art, and the hologram she created fooled everyone. But when the secret had gotten out, the results were nothing short of catastrophic. There was Jason Trask, who wanted him dead because of an alien invasion that was in his own mind. Tempus, a criminal from a future utopia, a time of peace created by the man of steel, despised Superman, wanting to remove him from the present to forge a future in his own image. But a nightmare came to pass the day Lex Luthor discovered Clark Kent is Superman.

Lex attacked Clark with ferocity unlike anything he had ever seen. As fate would have it, the one thing the two men had in common would lead to a moment of recognition. They're love for Lois Lane. Letting her go with Superman, Lex took the secret to his grave. But few things stay buried for long, as his son used the information to try to decide, what would end up being, the final battle of the house of Luthor. More people had discovered the truth as the years had gone by. Maybe Clark was right that day when he talked to Lois. Maybe his new glasses don't work as well as the old ones.

But as he walked along the small Parisian street, the only sense he was noticing was the sense of smell, as the warm, buttery scent of croissants floated through the air. Stepping into Pierre's' 24 hour Patisserie, Clark was greeted by a smiling familiar face.

"Ah! Bonsoir Monsieur Kent!" A short man came out from behind the counter.

"Bonsoir Pierre"

"How are you? And your lovely wife? Both well I hope."

"We're fine, thank you."

"So are you in Paris on assignment for ze Daily Planet or are you finally on a holiday?"

Clark laughed, knowing that Pierre was concerned for the non stop lives of Lane and Kent, "No, I'm just stopping off in Paris to see an old friend. Lois is in Metropolis. But I could not leave France without getting a few of your finest pastries."

"Oui, of course!" The man walked back behind the counter and began to place an assortment of croissants, cream cakes and other delights into little boxes. Placing them all into a bag, he handed them to Clark.

"Thank you, Pierre. What do I owe you?"

"Owe? For you Monsieur Kent, nothing! It is the least I can do for what you did for my son."

"It was nothing, I assure you." Clark smiled

"Nothing! Pah! The signed photo of Superman would have made my sons' birthday a memorable one, but for the man of steel to deliver it at his party, well, it made his year."

Clark wasn't lying when he said it was nothing, of course being asked if Superman could do one little thing was easy, especially as he was the man of steel. And while it may seem an unnecessary use of his time and powers to cynics, there weren't many feelings greater than the one you get when you make someone genuinely happy.

"Please, all I did was ask a friend for a favour."

"Don't make me insist Monsieur Kent." Pierre pleaded.

Clark didn't want to hurt his friends' pride, "Alright, just this once. Well I must leave, my plane leaves in a few hours and well, you know me."

"Do not worry! Remember that flying is the safest way to travel."

"Sure, easy for you to say." Clarks' voice cracked with nerves but on the inside he harmlessly laughed. Lois had put it in Pierre's' head that Clark was afraid of flying, something found totally hilarious to her. A man who can break the laws of gravity afraid of flying. Lois humour confused Clark sometimes.

"I hope your right. Au revoir Pierre."

"Au revoir Monsieur Kent."

Clark left, waving at the man as he walked out the door. Stepping outside, Clark began heading to back towards the alleyway. When he had ensured that nobody was around, he removed his glasses and tucked them into his shirt pocket. Spinning like a tornado, Superman re-emerged. Taking one final look around, he effortlessly lifted up off the ground.

He only made it up 5 feet.

Suddenly his body felt tonnes heavier, it was becoming harder and harder to gain any height, instead, he was slowly losing altitude. By the time his feet touched the ground, he felt as if he had ran round the world a ten dozen times. He was exhausted after about 6 feet? And now, try as he might, he couldn't fly at all. One by one he went through his powers. Vision, hearing, nothing, he had nothing.

"Oh Boy."

…

Lois turned off the shower, stepped out and wrapped a towel around her. Walking into the bedroom she began to wonder what her husband was up to. She gingerly crept downstairs, put off a little by the silence. On the unit by the phone was a note. Reading it, Lois knew what Clark had gone to France for. He could still surprise her but the familiar, reliable things always pleased her the most. Like how he knew what she wanted for breakfast, or how he could make her smile but especially how he was always there when she needed him, whether it was as Clark or Superman.

The ringing phone broke her train of thought.

"Lois Lane."

"Clark Kent."

"Very funny Clark… hey wait a minute, why are you phoning, hot story?" Lois' reporter curiosity kicked in immediately. The mere thought of a great story increased the heart rate of 'mad dog' Lane.

"Well you know I'm in France…"

"How is Pierre?" Lois teased.

"I can't get anything past you can I?" Clark joked.

"Not even with glasses on." Lois smiled.

"Ouch, that hurts." Clark pouted.

"If baby comes home, I'll kiss it all better." Lois whispered seductively.

"That's the problem." Lois voice quickened Clarks pulse.

"You don't want to come home to me?"

"I can't come home. Well, at the moment."

"Why not?"

"I can't fly."

"What!"

"Lois don't panic, it's probably just a glitch."

"Do you have any other super-power loss?"

"Total."

"That is not a glitch Clark!"

"Honey, please just keep calm." Clark tried, in vain, to comfort Lois.

"How can I? What are you going to do?"

"I'm not certain. I felt bad before I left for France but I shrugged it off. I'll give it an hour or so then if I'm still grounded, then I'll get a flight home."

"That would be funny if this wasn't so serious."

"I know. Look, I'm gonna go relax, you have to go to Star Labs, let Dr. Klein know that Superman will be stopping by sometime."

"You do have casual clothes don't you?"

"Yes, but I'm in the suit, hiding down an alleyway. Superman on the phone isn't a photo I want being taken."

"You'll get begged to become a sponsor from all the mobile companies."

"I know."

"Super low rates."

"Lo-is."

She giggled, "Sorry couldn't help it," Seriousness returned to her voice, "I'm just trying to keep optimistic."

"It'll be ok Lois, I'll be home soon. Well, soon-ish."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Lois put the phone down and took a deep breath to gain strength and composure. She then headed up stairs, already her mind was formulating cover stories for Clark Kent and for Superman. If it came to it, Clark wouldn't be around for the day so that was one excuse. Of course, telling Dr. Klein that Superman will be in to see him but it will be some time 'soon-ish' would require a little more thought. Luckily though, Klein was well aware of the power losses that Superman was having so that would make it marginally easier to explain delays. But then she wasn't going to say he'd be in as soon as he had gotten back from bringing her breakfast from Paris.

But all this was barely distracting her from the real turmoil that she was feeling. She had faith in her husband and knew that his real strength had nothing to do with him being able to bench-press mountains. But no matter what, she would be worried about the man she loved.

…

The second Clark heard the click of the phone being hung up, he knew, he could feel Lois' concern. He wanted desperately to be able to fly home, hold her in his arms and reassure her that everything was fine. But he couldn't, not at the moment. And it hurt him.

He had almost forgotten what it was like changing outfits at normal speed. Spinning tornado style into the suit wasn't for show, it was efficiency. He chuckled to himself, remembering one time, whilst changing into the suit in a toilet, he put his elbow through the door, scaring the hell out of some guy. But putting on Clark Kents' clothes over the cape and tights required a certain amount of precision. And a bit of patience.  
When he had managed to tuck away all traces of the red, yellow and blue, he put his glasses on andwalked out of the alleyway,sat down on a street bench and retrieved a croissant from the bag of pastries. If only for a second, the warm, moist, buttery delicacy took his mind off things. Pierre really was the best. As tempting as it was, he wasn't going to eat everything. A few minutes later, Clark got up, deciding that it was time to head for the airport.

He was stopped though, by another dizzy spell. Staggering back into that now far too familiar alley, Clark fell to his knees, his whole world spiralling out of control.

Then as spontaneously as they had disappeared, his powers returned to him, but it was too much. His vision powers violently shifted, battling between themselves for contention. Telescopic, microscopic, x-ray, heat vision, all of them where surging at once making the world impossible to comprehend. Clark only managed to find short term relief when his vision returned to normal. Super hearing, the sounds, it was an apocalyptic orchestra cascading him from all directions. Cars, people talking, whispering, heartbeats, breathing, water dripping from a tap, a dog barking, construction work, a vacuum cleaner, music, whistling infinite ticks from millions of clocks.

When his hearing began to stabilize, Clark decided it was all or nothing.

Once again looking around to make sure that no one was around, Clark lifted himself from the ground. This time, however, there was no loss of power. Rising up above the rooftops, he slowly at first flew towards home, picking up speed as he felt more confident. He felt completely fine again as he flew out over the ocean, although he still had no desire to becoming a skipping stone so he kept himself low and at a steady speed. If all was well, he'd be home within the hour.

…

Unknown to Clark, but known to a few scientists across the world, moments ago the world had been bombarded with an unusually high amount of solar energy.  
The scientists felt it was no concern though as it wasn't dangerous by any means. They just believed it to be another of the on going solar flares and it was dismissed after a few minutes of checking and testing. But what they didn't know was the real cause.

They didn't realise that a huge fireball had erupted out of the sun and was heading for Earth at an incredible speed.  
And no-one could have known that the core of the blazing inferno was in fact alive, and had murderous intent.


	3. So what's wrong?

Another delay! Judas priest! Sorry everyone. Life has been crazy lately.  
Once again I send my love to my honey bunny Hollie; I dedicate this to you beautiful. X

* * *

The elevator doors slid open, revealing the bustling newsroom of the world famous Daily Planet. Lois stepped out, almost bumping right into Ralph, who could barely see over the large pile of papers and folders he was carrying as he hurried past her. Walking to her desk she was putting her stuff down when a voice interrupted her thoughts, all of which where about Clark.

"Mornin' Lois."

"Hey Jimmy."

"Where's C.K?"

"Oh, Clark's gone to speak to another source about the military story." Lois sat down and rummaged through papers.

"How is that going, by the by?" another voice joined the conversation.

"Slowly, Perry, Clark and I keep hitting dead ends. All we've ascertained as that the military is close to completing and unveiling a top secret black ops project. With all our leads and all our sources, the only thing we have is that it may be A.I. And the codename is B v.1"

"Artificial Intelligence? Cool." Jimmy exclaimed.

"Judging by the cover this thing has it must be big."

"Which means front page news and I know you and Clark can get the scoop. Speaking of big news, what have you got for me for Superman's birthday?"

"An exclusive interview with him, although it took some convincing. He doesn't feel all the celebrations are necessary."

"I still can't believe it's been five years since he first arrived in Metropolis. So much has happened. We wouldn't be here if not for him." Perry reflected.

"It's been a wild ride." Jimmy smiled.

"It sure has. And there are many more Superman front page stories to come I guarantee it." Perry White would always be looking for the next front page headline, the scoop of the century.

"And Clark and I will be right there to get them." Lois was sifting through papers, looking for notes.

"Get what?" said a familiar voice.

"Hey C.K. We where talking about the big guys birthday."

Lois knew full well her husband had most likely been listening in as he approached Metropolis, as to cover their bases when it came to his whereabouts. She also smiled at the way he rolled his eyes at the mention of Superman's birthday.

"Oh yeah, it should be good. Lois, I couldn't find out anything more about the military project from our source." Clark had heard her excuse about his lateness, barely. His hearing had been off a little but he had been able to make out the important parts.

"Well keep trying you two," Perry politely ordered, "I want us to be the first ones on this thing when it comes out."

"We'll get something Perry." Clark replied.

"I know you will. Come on Jimmy, I want to go other the photo positions of Superman's birthday celebrations."

Perry headed into his office, closely followed by Jimmy, as Lois stood up and kissed her husband on the cheek and hugged him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, the nervousness in her voice was clear.

"I'm not really sure." Clark rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm bouncing back and forth between super and not so super."

"Star Labs?" she asked.

"Is Dr Klein aware I'm coming in?"

"Yes and he knows I'll be there as well."

"You think of everything don't you?" Clark smiled, pulling Lois close he kissed her deeply.

"You're the brawn. I'm the brains and the looks of our relationship." Lois grinned as her husband whispered into her ear.

"You'll pay for that…. later…."

Approaching Earth, entering the atmosphere, he could remember everything his father had taught him. His convictions renewed, he knew where to go, what to do. He wasn't sure how he knew but he was sure of his fathers hand in it. At an incredible velocity, he headed straight down towards the rippling ocean thousands of feet below. Hitting the waters surface he set off an explosion, plumes of water and steam rising into the air, waves flowing in all directions. Coming back up, he floated serenely on the surface. The water around him boiled and he looked as the steam floated up into the clear blue sky. It was intensely peaceful, yet he was so conflicted. He wanted to experience everything, to see the world now that he was unchained. But then something, a voice inside his head would call to him, order him to go somewhere.

He enjoyed seeing all the colours again. Blue, red and yellow. Then suddenly the voice returned. Clouding his thoughts with rage and destruction. Soaring up to a thousand feet, he closed his eyes and listened to the voice inside his head. The voice of his father.

It told him what to do. It told him where to go. He opened his eyes, used his vision to get his bearings and then flew off towards his destination.

Towards Metropolis.

Dr Klein had been starring at the same test tube for 20 minutes. There was no reason why, yet there he was starring intently at its bluish contents. He hadn't even realised that he had company until he suddenly became conscious of the tapping on his shoulder.

"Oh, hi Lois, Superman. How long have you…?"

"We just arrived." Superman had to bite his tongue to refrain from laughing. Truth was they'd been there for about 3 minutes, trying to get his attention but to no avail. He just didn't want his friend to feel foolish. Slightly absent minded Dr Klein maybe, but he was a good man.

"Oh good. So I gather you're still experiencing power fluctuations?"

"Yes. And they're getting worse. I had a total power loss this morning."

"Total? Well, to be honest, I'm not surprised." Dr Klein sighed.

"What do you mean?" asked Lois.

"Well we managed to rule out the solar factor so we started to look a little closer to home so to speak, we looked at your physiological makeup. See if there was anything abnormal."

Superman remembered all the tests that he endured that day. He wasn't sure some where even necessary and Dr Klein was just indulging in his almost child like love of the science of Superman. That was also the day he'd flown to the sun to check out the flares and see if it was them that where affecting him.

"Did you find anything?" Lois hated moments like this. Unable to show affection, to hold her husband, to support him. To be supported.

"When checking Superman on a microscopic level, we found that his cells had been what could best be described as tainted with a foreign substance."

"Kryptonite?" Superman said coldly.

"Essentially. But it isn't as straight forward as that. Remember hybrid kryptonite?"

"Yeah but it didn't affect me."

"Not immediately. We think that a fusion of events has caused this to happen. You came into contact with hybrid kryptonite and that may have been enough to start a reaction. You've been attacked on the molecular level numerous times as of late and those assaults left your molecular structure in a state of flux."

"Molecular flux? That doesn't sound good." Lois commented.

"Don't worry about that specifically. It's not like he'll phase out of reality without some containment suit that'll turn him blue or something like that."

"Huh?" Lois and Superman said in unison.

"Never mind. Anyway, combine this flux with the hybrid kryptonite and well, this condition has occurred. Your cells have been, coated so to speak, with hybrid kryptonite."

"So what's happening to me?" asked Superman, looking at Lois he could see concern in her eyes.

"Basically, your cells absorb sunlight and convert them into energy which gives you your super powers."

"And you're saying that the hybrid kryptonite is blocking this process?" Lois asked.

"Exactly. Well it appears to have started steadily, slowing all solar absorption until the cells can only convert what they have inside already."

"So that's what's happening now? I can no longer absorb solar energy and my cells are depleting, running down until…"

"Nothing." Dr Klein put his head down.

"Nothing! What do you mean nothing?" Lois asked. "What happens when the power's gone?"

"Either Superman will become human forever." He turned to face the hero, "Or… you'll die."


End file.
